Bugatti not included: A wireless sound system for your home

By now, most high streets likely resemble the Fall of Saigon, and sensible shoppers are turning their thoughts to practical options such as a nice Chocolate Orange from the all-night garage.

Dynaudio’s Xeo speakers are safely out of stocking-filler range, to put it mildly.

A basic set is £1,365, or £2,635 if you go for the beefier Xeo 5 towers.

Dynaudio's Xeo speakers are properly wireless. Each has its own amp, and is connected to the transmitter via a dedicated Wi-Fi network

A central transmitter beams sounds to the speakers themselves. If you’re really minted, you can buy additional speaker pairs for other rooms. Depressingly, some people will actually do this

The Xeos work with everything from smartphones to PCs to tablets. You could also plug in an old-style CD player – though having to traipse across the room to change discs may seem oddly antiquated

If you find some of these in your stocking, you’re being spoilt.

And you have very large feet.

Dynaudio makes the hi-fis inside £1 million-plus supercars – Bugatti Veyrons – and its speakers are favoured by goateed sound engineers, with over 10,000 installed each year in recording studios worldwide.

The sound guy on The Hobbit uses Dynaudio. So the Xeos actually represent a rare foray into the world of ‘real people’ – despite the four-figure price tags.

The basic set, comprising a pair of speakers and a transmitter, is a proper, hi-fi-snob-certified stereo – minus the wires. It works.

It doesn’t cut out and it doesn’t quietly murder the sound quality to oil the wheels (it streams at CD quality, and the audio still sparkles when it reaches its destination).

These speakers will make unwary visitors to hi-fi shops weep when they return home to hear what their own stereo sounds like by comparison. Dynaudio hi-fis are famed for their uniquely ‘colourless’ sound – not ‘colourless’ as in Michael Bublé, but in terms of the purity of reproduction.

In the best possible way, the Xeos sound like they’re not there.

One hopes the wireless technology (using Dynaudio’s own, patented-to-the-eyeballs system) might some day appear in stereos that we can all afford.

Perhaps next Christmas.

Now get ready for the new year sales

With Fab, you can prod idly at a stream of cheap clothes and products while lounging on your sofa

It’s safe to say that the sales-shopping app Fab wasn’t designed for men.

Even looking at the name as you download it makes you feel like you’re purchasing a pink sleeve for your smartphone.

But the app – one of those ‘If only I’d thought of that’ online success stories – is one of a new generation of shopping tools that has reduced the level of effort required for the new year sales to a new low.

Five years ago, you had to battle through crowds that resembled the lifeboat queue on the Titanic.

Two years ago, you simply clicked around on Amazon.

Now, with Fab, you can prod idly at a stream of cheap clothes and products while lounging on your sofa.

And if you are willing to brave the horrors of town, other apps should ensure you don’t return with a thousand-yard stare.

Snaptell can instantly reveal if that ‘bargain’ you’re considering is really as cheap as it could be, comparing the price to those at nearby stores and online.

For ladies, Snapette offers a location-tagged treasure hunt for ‘fashion finds’, with users pointing out where the best deals are.

Men, if you’re dragged along, I can only recommend you download Angry Birds Star Wars and count the minutes until you’re back home on the sofa with a turkey sandwich...